After seeing the Addo lions and reading your reports I am wondering about the future of the young male lions in Addo.

This first family tree from Megan showed that there are two sons from Kamkwa, but now it seems if she and Gina are on their own. What happened to the two boys(Matt and Amla) and the same goes for Ardlam's son who is still with her and getting bigger. I imagine that she and her daugther will be mating at some stage and he will be cast out of the group?

Henk: Addo has many 'Sections' to it. These sections are separated by various boundaries, Municipal/National roads being the biggest here. So theres ample space for Lions and other game to be moved around.
If I remember correctly, the 2 males you refer to were relocated to another section of the park.
Megan can confirm this or a search through the forums.

Ja Henk ditto Nightowl...my son Rob and I saw the 2 males (Gina's brothers Matt and Amla the day they were captured last year where the boundary fence comes close to the road north of Marion Barrie. They were caught later that morning) They stayed in a holding area for a while before being moved... cant say where in GAENP. Any news on how they are doing as they are not in a recognised tourist area per se I am led to believe..they must be big manne now

Sorry, I haven't had a chance to get back to anyone on questions lately!
Matt and Amla, Kamkwa's first (surviving) male cubs, were moved to Kuzuko Contractual Area which is in the north of the Park. They are doing well there. This area will eventually become one with the Darlington section of the Park when, in the future, fences have been completed and the fence between them removed.

Lions will eventually be reestablished in all the areas of the Park where they would have occurred, including Colchester (Matyholweni) area, Nyathi area and Darlington. This will be done once all the infrastructure needed (e.g. correct fencing) is in place and a big enough prey base has developed. There's also a possibility that new genes could be brought in and that lions could be translocated out of Addo in the future if needed.

simonB, you definitely cannot use the tracks that are not marked as tourist roads in the Park. Imagine if everyone wanted to do there own "research"....how would we control this? and imagine the type of impact this would have on the environment in the Park, as well as the advantage people might take of this concession

Research projects are strictly controlled and sanctioned only after rigorous review from SANParks' scientists. Many of us would love to be out there in the bush, gathering data unfortunately we don't all get to do so.

However, we always welcome observations from visitors and contributions to the Park

simonB, you definitely cannot use the tracks that are not marked as tourist roads in the Park. Imagine if everyone wanted to do there own "research"....how would we control this? and imagine the type of impact this would have on the environment in the Park, as well as the advantage people might take of this concession

lol - yeah imagine the type of quality research that would come out of this, oops sorry, now i am just being cynical..

Having spent 4 days in the park now I fully understand why these type of concessions cannot be given, there are so many really really stupid people, climbing out of cars, walking around, throwing bags out the windows, shouting and screaming in the camps, playing loud music etc etc.. it's so sad to see people have NO respect for this our heritage! It's just not fair to mass punish everyone but yes, if it keeps these buggers away then maybe its better..

Well today I got one clear pic, of a lion so my frustration is cooling off a bit.. lol I need a better camera.

On another note, the state of the Jackals is shocking! The mange is slowly going to kill them, we found a jackal today at Marion Baree that was so badly manged he could barely walk, another Jackal near () was in the same condition, this is a sad day for Jackals in the park.

Spoke to 2 rangers in the camp, and they say the park is leaving nature to take it's course as there are already to many Jackal in the park... mmm i understand this reasoning as I have seen at least 20jackal in the last 4 days, but it just sounds so evil, because the mange is an alien and should not be in the park!

Megan: If the park provides traps and gives me 24h access I will volunteer a few days/weeks a month to help out on this project. If Jackals are caught and cleaned with water and calcswaal this virus can be killed. I have seen it work very well and at a very low cost on dog's so it could work, Just not sure of the environmental impact of calkswaal, will research it a bit.

I look forward to the day when this new nasty virus is out of the park, lets hope it doesnt spread to the hyena's etc..

He will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth" I look forward to that day. You have been warned!

Mange is a naturally occurring phenomenon in the Park and not something alien that has been introduced. We definitely would not try to get rid of it as it fulfills an important function of controlling population numbers, especially in times when the environment is under stress.

To take jackals as an example, when their numbers increase, there is more competition for food, less to go around etc and jackals are under stress. Mange becomes more prevalent and reduces the numbers of jackal. Then their lot improves and the population slowly grows again and in this time you will see mostly healthy jackals around....a natural cycle.

Mange also occurs on spotted hyena, lion and even buffalo during stressful times, such as when it is very dry and there is not much grazing.

Although it may seem cruel to see jackals suffering from mange, our policy is one of minimum interference in the natural ecosystems and survival of the fittest is nature's way.

How's this for bad luck and a good aim!!..Recently Bitterbal approached down a path...then turned at 3 metres and let rip with a scent marking spray..Bulls Eye all over my 70-200 lens Luckily the Bush and the lens hood stopped a lot of it getting to the sensitively coated front element..My jersey also got it which made our cat at home most interested that night as it smelt me and the jersey...what a rude lion...he has the whole park to urinate on but he chose me that day!!

Yeah I understand the theory behind this, and I appreciate your response. It's sad to see the Jackal's suffering like this and please don't take my comments as an attack on parks board, I know you guys are working hard to keep the parks alive well into the future. I just saw a problem and wanted to help.

I also read how you helped the lions out with their tick problem and thought hey lets help the Jackal's too, I just never thought of the Jackals as disposable, but it does make sense, I suppose it's much harder to get new lions that to get new Jackals.

If the mange doesn't get out of control it's a good way to thin the population. Another good way thats much less cruel maybe trans location or even selling them to other game farms etc this could be a good way of spreading genes.

Anyway I am sure sanparks has this under control.

Thanx for your feedback.

He will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth" I look forward to that day. You have been warned!

Btw have you also noticed how aggressive Ardlams son is?
On 3 occasions while I was in Addo last week we observed him either mock storming or even stalking cars. This was a but freeky as sooner or later someone is going to come second best.

On one occation he walked right up to a car to peek at the driver who was unaware the lion was only a few feet away from killing him, the guy was taking pics of the lioness on the other side of the car, luckily he was really still in the car and so this fellow just lost interest.

It's only a matter of time before someone gets a nasty surprise.

I also noticed a few tour guides / rangers and pvt ppl who tend to forget that they may not elite from their vehicles, sooner or later this tenancy is going to end badly and the sad thing is that then this beautiful lion will suffer for the human error.

The main point where I found everyone hanging out of cars was in Wayne's valley, trying to get a better view of Gina, Kamkwa and the cub, do they forget that there are other lions in the park?

This is something I think park needs to look at more carefully. Tour guides also need to realize that they are setting the example for the tourists and if they hang out their vehicles they are setting the wrong example!

Obviously park officials can walk around in the park, i understand this and saw quite a few of the staff on foot in the park, fixing water leaks near Hapoor etc, but this does not apply to tour guides, be they park staff or not, guys we must set the right example for the tourists, who so often refer to our animals as Simba, Pumba and Timone..

Tourists need to be reminded that these animals will eat them if they hangout of their cars and then because of the human stupidity the lions will suffer!

He will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth" I look forward to that day. You have been warned!